Masterson JY Bunkhouse

“Home was wherever a cowboy hung his hat.” The cliché had truth to it. Cowboys of the American West were vagabonds, roaming from place to place. At the ranch headquarters, the bunkhouse was their home until they moved on again.

Cowboys were young, many having left their homes to sign on with a cow outfit in hopes of seeing the country and working with horses. Theirs was a poorly paid and dangerous job, whether they were on the trail or at the ranch. Many of these cowhands had very little education and few possessions, but they had horse sense, so to say.

A sense of humor helped a cowboy cope with the responsibilities of his job. Cowboying has gained a questionable reputation as being “romantic,” when in reality, it was very hard work. In some situations, the responsibilities were accompanied by long months of boredom and loneliness.

At the end of a hard work day, the bunkhouse looked good to weary cow hands. Most bunkhouses were crowded and smelled of sweat, cattle and tobacco. But it was a place where they could roll out their bedrolls, usually outside, which is where most of these roamers preferred to sleep. In bad weather, however, the bunkhouse floor was a welcome respite. Lighting was provided by a coal oil lantern or a lamp. The table was used for eating, of course, but also for playing dominoes or cards and writing an occasional letter home. Heat, when needed, came from the fireplace.

In 1889, Robert Ben Masterson purchased 40,000 acres in Knox and King counties on which the bunkhouse was situated. His daughter, Mrs. D.S. Kritser, said the family lived in Fort Worth but spent summers on the ranch. Although girls were not allowed in the bunkhouse, she said she peeked in sometimes. She saw iron bedsteads with springs and mattresses covered by cowboys’ bedrolls made of a tarpaulin with soogans—heavy wool or cotton quilts—and a pillow. She also saw dirty socks, a wooden table and chairs with cowhide seats and rugs made from the hides of lobos.

The Masterson JY Bunkhouse was considered a good one by those who lived in it. Its walls and fireplace were made of limestone and the interior floor was wood. Beaded ceiling board was overhead.

Information about the bunkhouse suggests it was built in 1879 on the same location buffalo hunters had camped in earlier years. The un-mortared native rock bunkhouse was originally part of the 8 Ranch. (A large 8 is carved below the fireplace mantle.)

When Masterson acquired the property as part of his JY Ranch, sources suggest the building was used as both a bunkhouse and a cook shack. The ranch was passed to Masterson’s son, R.B. Jr., then in 1956 it was purchased by Ed Lowrance. Lowrance and his family gave the bunkhouse to the NRHC in 1971, where it stands for all the structures that served as temporary homes for roaming cowboys.